Wednesday Afternoon School

I have been absolutely stupid tired all day. 

If someone said this to me, I night ask "do you mean it's stupid how tired you are, or that you are so tired it's making you stupid?"

If you asked me this, I would say "yes".

I went to be early last night. Well, no I didn't, but I went to bed less late than usual. I forgot to set my alarm, but I woke up in time to get ready for work, and usually this means I feel more rested than usual. I yawned so much I felt like I was going to swallow my own head. Fortunately, Mondays are crazy busy and it goes very quickly, which is fortunately when you feel like you have a micro-nap every time you blink.

So. My third school.  I think I've been there for ... a couple of years? Time's lost all meaning. 

Things I like:

1. The school has a very nice feel. The vice principal comes and gives me chocolate on every Appreciation Day for whatever I am, I can't remember what exactly they call it, leave me alone, I'm tired. 

2. They have the greatest art in the halls. And robots in the library.

3. The books are arranged so that shelving is almost effortless - spinning racks, stationary racks, bins. We have a parent volunteer who comes in to help shelve on Thursdays, and I have to actively stop myself from shelving books so there will be enough for her to do. Every other school I shelve frantically in every spare moment, so this is a switch. 

4. The main librarian isn't a stickler for not letting kids who haven't returned books borrow books - they can have up to four before we start cracking down. 

5. There's a plexiglass wall in front of my desk. It was put there for Covid, but it remains. I love the kids, but they are sticky and have no sense of personal space, and it's nice to have a virus shield.

6. Most classes are really lovely, like unusually so. The grade sixes don't just say thank-you after I check out their books, they tell me to have a nice day. 

7. There's no sink in the office, but there's a bathroom just outside the library door, so it's not hard to nip out and wash my hands. 

8. It's probably the closest to my house of three libraries that are all very close to my house. It's beside the high school where my kids went, and kitty corner to where they took piano lessons. It's a spot that has good associations in my mind. 

Things I like less:

1. The space is big, but the low beam makes it feel less expansive. The light over the desk is perpetually burned out, so it always feels a little bit dark.

2. This library is notoriously over-heated. The first time I walked in I wasn't sure I'd be able to stay. There's a small fan on the ground behind my chair, and I bring in another one for the desk. 

3. The office is tiny, and very crowded. 

The light switch is behind that shelf. Picture trying to find it in, you know, the dark. Schools never get enough librarian hours, and I don't for a minute judge the librarian for this level of chaos, but it stresses me out - it is the very opposite of good feng shui. I always feel tempted to rearrange stuff, but I don't want to move it where she won't be able to find it. 

I was so happy to get home today I nearly wept. But now my husband is in New Jersey and Lucy has been sleeping ever since we got home (maybe it's just something about today across the board) so I'm either going to go to bed at seven or stay up way too late because there's no one here to calibrate my bedtime by. 

Three! More! Days!